


Apartment 16

by martianbarnes



Series: Stucky Bingo [4]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Especially Bucky, M/M, Natasha's having the time of her life making fun of them, Or More Like, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, meet cute, meet dumb, the dog totally ships them, they are a mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:42:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27296590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/martianbarnes/pseuds/martianbarnes
Summary: "Finally, he sees the longed-for number 16 on the door in front of him and bends to retrieve the key. Luckily, it's still there. Bucky thinks about the fact that in just a few minutes he'll finally be able to lay down, fall asleep and forget about the dull ache in all of his muscles for a few hours. It's a very nice thought. It makes him let out a small, happy sigh as he opens the door and sneaks into the dark apartment.The light coming from the window in the living room is not much but enough for Bucky to realise that there's a dog. A big dog is standing in the middle of the hallway, its head cocked to the side as it watches Bucky. It's fair and huge, a golden retriever if Bucky was to guess.It wouldn’t be weird if Bucky just ignored the fact that Natasha did not have a dog."
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: Stucky Bingo [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1935310
Comments: 12
Kudos: 128
Collections: Stucky Bingo 2020





	Apartment 16

**Author's Note:**

> Here’s a random thing I wrote to escape from the other fic I’m working on. It was supposed to be a short ficlet and here we are. It was really fun to write and I hope you’ll have fun reading it :’)  
> Come say hi on [**Tumblr**](http://captainjanegay.tumblr.com/) if you want ♥

There are eighty-seven steps to get to the 5th floor of the building Natasha lives in. It is at least eighty steps too many. In normal circumstances Bucky probably wouldn’t complain. He got used to the permanently broken elevator and he was in good enough condition not to die of exhaustion climbing those damn stairs on a normal day. But all of this doesn't matter at 4 AM when Bucky's completely exhausted—both physically and mentally—after his shift at the bar. In those circumstances he can complain as much as he fucking wants, thank you very much.

Despite all the stairs, he is really thankful for Natasha. His own apartment is not that far, maybe a twenty minute walk from here. But he'd rather fall asleep on the street than walk all the way to his place right now. So bless the permanent permission to crash on Natasha's couch whenever he feels like it. She even keeps a spare key under her mat—a foolproof hiding place, so obvious that nobody ever bothers to check there and break into her apartment.

Finally, he sees the longed-for number 16 on the door in front of him and bends to retrieve the key. Luckily, it's still there. Bucky thinks about the fact that in just a few minutes he'll finally be able to lay down, fall asleep and forget about the dull ache in all of his muscles for a few hours. It's a very nice thought. It makes him let out a small, happy sigh as he opens the door and sneaks into the dark apartment. Taking off his shoes, he turns to lock the door. Then, he freezes. He can hear a weird noise from behind his back, like... clacking against the wooden floor. Slowly, he turns around.

The light coming from the window in the living room is not much but enough for Bucky to realise that there's a dog. A big dog is standing in the middle of the hallway, its head cocked to the side as it watches Bucky. It's fair and huge, a golden retriever if Bucky was to guess.

It wouldn’t be weird if Bucky just ignored the fact that Natasha did not have a dog.

A few more seconds pass. Bucky starts wondering if he didn’t in fact pass out from exhaustion somewhere between the bar and Natasha’s place and all this is just ravings of his tired brain. After a moment of deliberation, Bucky wonders how badly such a big dog could hurt him. After all, he can get mistaken for a burglar. Hell, he is in someone’s apartment—not Natasha’s, that much is obvious—after he basically broke in in the middle of the night, probably still reeking of cigarettes and that beer someone spilled on him at the bar hours ago. 

So if the dog leaps to bite his face off, Bucky kind of had that coming. The rational part of his brain makes him take a step back towards the door. He blindly reaches for the door-handle. As he realises that he’d actually closed the door behind himself, he curses under his breath. At least the dog is still just watching him, calmly.

Just as Bucky thinks that, the dog moves. There’s no leaping and biting-off-faces involved so far, the dog only scampers towards him leisurely. It sniffs at Bucky's hand, while Bucky tries very hard not to breathe. After an excruciatingly long second or two, the dog nudges Bucky's hand until it rests on its muzzle. When Bucky doesn't do anything, the dog sits on its hind legs and looks at Bucky in a way that seems kind of expectant. Not having much choice, Bucky does the only thing there is to do. 

He moves his hand to rest on the dog’s head and pets, gently scratching behind the dog's right ear. It lets out a quiet noise, somewhere between a bark and a content huff. Bucky chuckles quietly. He's not sure what is happening, but at least he's not worried about getting eaten alive for now. Soon enough, the dog flops onto its back, exposing its belly and there's that look again. Without thinking, Bucky crouches down and proceeds with the rubs.

Once again, the rational part of his brain tries to take control, telling him that he's still in some stranger's place, it's still past 4 AM and Bucky still should not be here. No matter how friendly the dog is. Unfortunately, at this hour the rational part of his brain has no say in anything. The dumb and the tired parts are the present CEOs of The Bucky Barnes Brain and that's why nothing good happens to him at the wee hours of the morning. So of course, Bucky ignores the voice of reason that tells him to go and try to figure out where the hell Natasha's apartment is. And besides—he had a long night. He had to deal with drunk and obnoxious people and serve them their drinks with a smile. He had to stand for hours and his legs are so sore he's not sure if he'll be able to get up from the crouches. He sure as hell deserved to pet a dog who clearly wants to be pet as a treat.

"What. The. Fuck. Is happening here?!"

Of course Bucky's happiness is short-lived. When he hears the deep, male voice, his head snaps up, trying to make out the silhouette in the dark corridor. 

Before he can do that, the light is suddenly switched on. Bucky winces and starts blinking, bringing the hand not currently petting the dog up to shield his eyes from the blinding brightness. The quick movement throws him off balance, making him plop down onto his butt.

When his ability to see is more or less back, he looks up. His eyes widen. He opens his mouth but closes it when nothing comes out. He just stares.

Because right in front of him stands a very gorgeous man. He seems skinny and small, probably at least a head shorter than Bucky. His blond hair is sticking in every direction, which Bucky would find adorable in different circumstances. The man's jaw is strong, his cheekbones to die for and he has the most beautiful blue eyes Bucky has ever seen.

Unfortunately, those blue eyes are glaring at him furiously and if it was possible to die under someone's gaze, Bucky would drop dead 15 seconds ago.

"Who the fuck are you? What are you doing in my apartment? It's the fucking middle of the night!" the stranger says, almost yelling.

"I'm not a burglar!" is what Bucky answers and he totally deserves the unimpressed eyebrow raise he gets. "Which is probably what a burglar would say. But really, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to—I was going to my friends place but I must've messed up the floors or something. I was going to get out as soon as I realised that something was wrong, but…"

Bucky glances down at the dog, who is still lying on its back with its tongue lolling out and demands more scratches.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, Bowie?" Bucky opens his mouth to defend himself, but he frowns at the name. After a moment he realises that the man is addressing the dog. "Aren't you supposed to defend this household or something? Are you really that cheap?"

"For what it's worth, I feel pretty defeated right now," Bucky chimes in. Another annoyed glare is what he gets in return.

"It's not worth a fuck, you've broken into my apartment! At 5 in the fucking morning," the man yells, running a hand through his hair. Only now Bucky realises that he's clutching a big and heavy-looking book in his other hand.

"I didn't actually break in! I found the key under the mat!" Bucky says.

It catches the man off guard. For a moment he just stands there, his brows furrowed and his cheeks go a bit red. It doesn't last long though.

"Well, that's my bad, but why would you even look for it?"

"Cause my friend hides her key for me there, too. Look, man," Bucky tries and scrambles to get up. His legs protest when he stands up but he is able to suppress a whine. "I'm really sorry. I'm tired as shit, I just finished my shift and up until this point I was convinced that my friend lives at number 16. I really didn't mean to disturb you. I really wanted to go but at first I was worried your dog's gonna eat me alive and then I couldn't deny him the scratches. If that's any consolation, it was the best part of my day. Playing with your dog, not breaking in here."

A winning smile appears on the man's face. "So you do admit you broke in here!" His tone and expression is significantly less murderous than before so Bucky dares to roll his eyes in response. "Let's say I believe you. I don't think I've ever heard about someone breaking into a stranger's home by accident but let's say that's true."

"It is! Also, just out of curiosity—you wanted to knock me out with that book?" Bucky feels the urge to ask.

"Still might," the man points out, grabbing the book tighter.

Bucky might be imagining things but he thinks there's a ghost of a smile dancing in the corner of the blond's mouth. Or maybe he just becomes delirious from exhaustion.

"Then you'd be able to tell people you've defeated a burglar with the power of literature," Bucky jokes. As soon as it leaves his mouth, he hears how lame it sounds but he blames his tired brain for that. And the handsome stranger, who seems to dampen his ability to think even more.

The handsome stranger who, surprisingly, let's out a chuckle in response to Bucky's horrible efforts at… whatever he is currently doing. Is he really trying to flirt with a man into who's flat he's barged in at 4 in the morning?

After thinking about it for a moment, he realises that it can be the case. Which is another argument in favour of the fact that at such an hour he's a danger to society. And to himself, especially.

"I wouldn't have to do that if Bowie at least pretended to be a guard dog and not a slut for belly rubs," the man says. The dog gets up after hearing his name and trots over to his owner, his tongue still dangling happily from his mouth. The stranger only sighs, but it's obvious he's not really mad as he starts scratching the dog behind his ears.

"You named your dog Bowie?" Bucky raises an eyebrow. "Like, after David Bowie, the artist?"

"No, after James Bowie, the botanist," the man says without batting an eyelash. Bucky's not sure if he's being serious. After a few seconds a smirk appears on the stranger’s face in response to Bucky’s confusion.

Despite looking like an angel, the man seems to be such a little shit. Bucky would be lying to himself if he said he’s not into it.

“OK, it’s lovely chatting with you, burglar—”

“It’s Bucky,” Bucky interrupts.

“What?” the man furrows his brows in confusion.

“My name’s Bucky. Not burglar, I thought we’ve settled that already.”

The man rolls his eyes but the smile still lingers on his face. God, it’s such a pretty smile. And such a handsome face.

“Bucky,” the man repeats.

Bucky loves the sound of his name rolling out of the stranger’s tongue. He wonders if it’s socially acceptable to ask out the person into who's flat you’ve broken in? 

He’s afraid it’s not. 

It’s a real shame.

“I’d really like to go back to sleep if you don’t mind,” the stranger continues, probably oblivious to Bucky’s internal torment. “Will you be OK, though? I can call you a cab or something. Who knows if you won’t mistake the apartments again. And others might not be as nice about it as I am.”

“I’m glad it was your I stumbled upon, then,” Bucky says, smiling his most charming smile.

Once again, the blond tries to pretend that he’s utterly annoyed but his cheeks are totally blushing. Bucky’s smile widens with pride.

“I might be nice but I’m not the most patient person, just so you know,” the stranger warns. “And I really like my sleep so please stop depriving me of it.”

“Oh, sure. I’m sorry, I really am. I promise I didn’t do it on purpose, I’ll leave you alone, sorry.”

As much fun he’s having flirting with the guy, he really is sorry for waking him up and disturbing his peace in general. So he takes a step back and unlocks the door.

“You sure, you’ll be OK?” the man comes closer, his eyes looking at Bucky with no anger left in them. Bucky even sees a bit of concern there.

“Yeah, don’t worry. It’s probably just the wrong floor or something, I’ll manage. Thanks, though.”

“It’s OK,” the man smiles. His hand rests on the side of the door as he leans against it a bit. “Try not to torment anyone else. Or at least wait till morning.”

Bucky ducks his head and laughs at that. He sticks his hands into his pockets, still hovering outside the stranger’s apartment.

“Again, I’m really sorry. I hope you’d still get some sleep,” Bucky says, sincerely. “And thanks for not calling the cops on me or something.”

“Don’t need them, I have the power of literature, remember?”

Bucky’s grin grows so big his cheeks start to hurt. Maybe it’s possible for good things to happen at such ungodly hours, after all.

“How could I forget?” After a moment Bucky feels bold enough to ask, “Do I deserve to get your name?”

“You don’t deserve shit, jerk,” the blond says but his smile matches Bucky’s. “Come back at a reasonable time and we’ll see about that. And use the damn doorbell, for fuck’s sake.”

It is hard not to get his hopes up after hearing what he has just heard. Bucky bites at his lower lip, trying to tame his smile a bit. At this point, he’s pretty sure he’s gonna wake up any time now, passed out on Natasha’s couch or behind the bar, back at work. It all seems too good to be true. The beautiful, sassy man standing in front of him, barefoot, in just his boxer briefs and a loose t-shirt, with his cheeks red and hair messy is definitely too good to be true. 

“OK, I can do that,” Bucky says, taking a step back. "Sorry again and have a good night. Or what's left of it. Bye, it was nice meeting you. And you too, Bowie."

The dog barks happily, bumping his head into Bucky's leg as Steve shushes him.

"Hush, you big lug, let's not wake any more people, OK?" the man says to the dog, pushing him back inside. "Goodnight, Bucky."

They exchange one last lingering look and a smile before Steve closes and locks the door. Bucky just stands there for a second. He lets out a little chuckle under his breath and runs a hand through his hair, still not sure if any of that actually happened. Finally, he turns around and climbs another flight of stairs, trying to figure out Natasha's actual address. When he gets to the floor above the handsome stranger's apartment, he halts to a stop and blinks in disbelief.

Because the door he is standing in front of now has the number 16 on them. He actually goes halfway down the stairs and leans over the barrister to glance at the floor below. He is not hallucinating. Both flats can’t have the same number but somehow they do. Bucky walks back up the stairs and glares at the door. He really doesn't want to walk into someone else's apartment again. He got lucky once but that doesn't mean he's not gonna get arrested at some point.

The more he stares at the little silver number, the more convinced he is that there's something wrong with it. The "1" and "6" are not lined up properly, it's almost as if…

Furrowing his brows, Bucky nudges the "6" with his finger. It swings from side to side. On closer inspection, he notices a small hole above the number. When he turns it all the way up, the hole aligns perfectly with the matching one on the number “6”

Or a "9" actually. Bucky lets out a tired sigh and rubs his face with his free hand. After over 3 years, Bucky finally discovers that his friend lives in apartment 19 and can't be bothered to fix a damn number on her door. Which maybe she should, in case some idiot mistakes the apartment for the one below.

To be honest, he's not even that mad. For one, he is too exhausted to muster any more emotions. And two, meeting Natasha's handsome neighbourhood might've shaken him a bit and Bucky's pretty sure it'll take him a while to stop thinking about their encounter. Not that he wants to stop thinking about it.

He bends down, retrieving the key from under the mat and this time he checks the inside of the apartment before he walks in. He's pretty sure it's Natasha's, but better safe than sorry. He takes off his shoes and smiles dreamily at the sight of a familiar couch, calling to him from the living room. His heart warms when he notices that after his text earlier Natasha left him a pillow and his favourite blanket ready. Quietly, he walks to the kitchen to get himself a glass of water. He leaves his clothes on the floor and sinks into the couch in just his boxers. It takes him about 0.2 seconds to fall asleep.

The smell of coffee fills the air and that’s what wakes Bucky up. When he blinks his eyes open, he sees Natasha sitting cross-legged on the coffee table in front of him. She waves her hand above the cup she’s holding, sending the coffee scent his way.

“Good morning, James,” she smiles at him. “I figured that midday is a reasonable time to wake you.”

“Thanks,” Bucky says and returns the gesture. 

He sits up just a bit and reaches for the cup with his right hand. Natasha snorts and swats at it.

“You’re crazy. That’s mine,” she gets up and walks away, ignoring Bucky’s whine. “You can get yourself some from the kitchen, if you want.”

“You’re at the same time the best and the worst person I know,” Bucky grumbles but stands up to walk towards the kitchen, wrapping the blanket around his shoulders.

Natasha beams at him as if that’s the best compliment she ever heard. “Thank you!”

There’s indeed more coffee waiting for him and Bucky pours himself a cup, cradling it in his hands with a blissed smile.

“When did you get here last night? I fell asleep at two and you weren’t there yet.”

“I have no idea. It must’ve been around five,” Bucky says, taking a sip of his coffee.

Natasha shakes her head in disapproval. “I swear to god, you have to find a new job. They’re making you stay later and later every day and you’re exhausted before you even get there, that’s such bullshit.”

“Maybe, but the money’s good,” Bucky shrugs and then says before he can bite his tongue. “But I finished half past three yesterday, so it wasn’t that bad.”

He realises his mistake the moment Natasha narrows her eyes at him. “Then where were you for an hour and a half?”

“Um, what?” Bucky asks, trying to play dumb. He knows that Natasha won’t be fooled but it will at least buy him some time. “Maybe I remember it wrong, I didn’t really check the time when I got here so it could’ve been earlier.”

“Did you get into a fight? Did you finally punch Brock? Nah, you’d be bruised after that though. No offense.” Bucky leaves the kitchen but she walks after him. She gasps theatrically. “Did you finally get laid?”

“You’re obsessed with Brock and my sex life. It’s alarming.”

Rolling her eyes she plops down on the couch before he can do the same. “I just really think that ‘he’s my boss’ is too weak of an argument not to punch the guy and if you don’t do that on the day you quit I’m gonna disown you. And I really want you to be happy and satisfied. In every meaning of that word.”

“You’re horrible. In every meaning of that word.”

“Heard that already, you have to work on your insults,” Natasha nudges him. “Go shower, loser. We’re going out for lunch.”

Bucky doesn’t even argue with her. Lunch—or breakfast in his case—sounds like a great idea, actually. Before he gets to the bathroom, he stops by Natasha’s closet. There’s one whole shelf dedicated to all the clothes and random crap he’d left at Natasha’s place on various occasions. It’s really helpful for when he crashes at her place and it saves him from wearing beer-stained jeans for example.

When he's showered, dressed and ready he joins Natasha back in the living room. As soon as he walks in, she sends him the same expectant look she's had before. Bucky should know she's not gonna let this whole thing go so quickly. Ignoring her for a moment, he retrieves his wallet and phone from the pile of clothes he'd left by the couch the night before.

"You know the, um. The guy that lives below you?" he starts, conversationally.

"Steve? Yeah, I've met him a few times. Nice guy," Natasha says, matching his tone but he can hear the smirk in her voice without even looking her way. "Why?"

Bucky busies himself with folding the dirty clothes which is absolutely pointless except for the fact that it lets him avoid looking at his friend. "I kind of… met him last night."

"Oh really?"

When Bucky finally turns, Natasha waggles her eyebrows at him with the most obnoxious smile he’s ever seen. Bucky just rolls his eyes.

“First of all, do you know that the number on your door is misleading because the ‘9’ is broken?” Bucky asks.

“Yeah, I know. I like it better that way. It has more character this way. How is this rele—” she pauses, furrows her brows and then starts laughing. “You really thought I live at 16 didn’t you? Oh my god, did you—”

She doesn’t even finish and starts laughing even harder. Bucky really does hate her sometimes.

“I can’t believe you broke into his apartment in the middle of the night,” Natasha wipes an actual tear from her cheek. “Did he beat you up? He’s totally the type to do that, I’ve once driven him to the hospital with a broken nose after a fight he started.”

“I— He what?” Bucky asks. Natasha just shrugs in response. Bucky realises he’s not that surprised, he can totally imagine such a scenario after his encounter with the guy. “He didn’t beat me up. Wanted to, though. He also keeps his key under the mat and I was really tired so it took me a while to notice I wasn’t at your place. Also, he has a really friendly dog.”

Natasha hums, sending him another amused look. “So you’ve spent over an hour playing with his dog at 4 in the morning?”

“Basically? I was worried the dog was going to eat me but he just wanted belly rubs. The guy was more likely to eat me for waking him up and barging into his flat.”

“Oh, I bet he’d like to eat you,” Natasha cackles and heads for the door. “I like your style, Barnes. Breaking and entering is a rather unusual way of flirting but I totally approve.”

“You’re a horrible person and an awful friend,” Bucky says, walking out of the apartment after her.

“You still love me.”

That part is true but Bucky is not going to admit it out loud.

They walk out of the building together and just because the Universe hates Bucky, as soon as they walk out the front door, he hears a bark. Something big, bright and fluffy starts running towards him.

“Oh,” Bucky says as the dog bumps his head against Bucky’s hand. He automatically starts petting him. “Hello there, Bowie.”

“So now you’re gonna steal my dog in broad daylight, too?”

Looking up, Bucky sees the handsome neighbour already looking at him with a smirk. His eyes are even bluer and brighter in the sunshine and Bucky forgets about trying to defend himself for a moment. Before he manages to reply, the man turns to Natasha and his cocky smirk turns into a friendly smile.

“Hi, Nat,” he says. “So you’re the mysterious friend of Mister Burglar here?”

“Hi, Steve. Yeah, unfortunately I am,” she answers, grinning at Bucky, who just rolls his eyes.

“You won’t let it drop, will you?” he sighs looking from Natasha to Steve. “It wouldn’t hurt to have a bit of compassion for a man who was tired after a long night at work and got a tiny bit mistaken.”

“If your tiny mistakes lead to crime, I don’t want to know how your big ones turn out,” Steve says, making Bucky groan.

He’s not really mad, he’s pretty sure Steve is just messing with him, if the smile on his face is any indication. But Bucky can play along. Especially, if that means making the pretty smile stay where it is.

“He’s a lost cause,” Natasha agrees.

“I don’t understand why Bowie likes him so much. He’s usually a good judge of character but everyone can be wrong sometimes.”

After that, Bucky crouches in front of the dog who tries to lick at his face. “You are right, though, aren’t you? Such a good boy, way smarter than those two dimwits there, right? We’re gonna dump them and become best friends, aren’t we?”

Bowie barks happily. Bucky hopes it’s because he agrees with what Bucky’s saying and not just because he’s getting more backrubs.

When Bucky glances up, he notices that Steve is watching them both with a soft smile on his face. He has to look back at Bowie to hide the blush that creeps up his face for some reason.

“I hate to break your moment,” Natasha says, nudging Bucky with her knee lightly. “But I really am hungry and from what I remember, we were supposed to go for lunch. Want to join us, Steve?”

Bucky’s heart skips a bit and he can’t help the hopeful look he sends Steve’s way. Unfortunately, the man shakes his head.

“Sorry, I have some work to do and I won’t be free for another hour,” he answers. He looks down at Bucky when he adds, “Maybe next time.”

When they just gaze at each other for a moment, it’s Natasha who finally snorts and says, “Yeah, next time. It was nice bumping into you, Steve. I bet Bucky would like to bump into you some more but we gotta go.”

“Tasha!” Bucky gasps, horrified but she only laughs. Steve blushes and looks away after her words.

“Yeah, I gotta go, too. Have fun,” Steve says, whistling at Bowie who obediently follows him to the door.

“See you round!” Bucky yells a bit too loudly and gets one more smile before Steve and his dog disappear inside the building.

He stares at the closed door for another moment. Natasha sighs, grabs his elbow and starts dragging him down the street.

“You really are a hopeless cause,” she says with fond exasperation.

The lunch with Natasha is nice. They go to their favourite bistro just two blocks away and spend over an hour catching up and chatting about nothing in particular. After that Natasha has to come by the office she works at to get some documents, so they make plans to meet up later that week and part ways. Natasha goes to the office and Bucky goes home.

Or at least that was the plan.

Because for some reason Bucky finds himself standing in front of apartment number 16 in Natasha’s building. There’s no reason for him to be here. Steve said he had work to do. On the other hand, he said he would be free in an hour. But then again, he doesn’t necessarily have to be home right now.

There’s also no reason for Bucky to be feeling as stressed as he does right now and yet here he is. He takes a deep breath and rings the doorbell. Immediately, he can hear Bowie’s barking at the noise.

A moment passes. Then another. Just as Bucky is about to leave, the door opens and Steve’s face appears from behind it.

“Look who’s learned how to use a doorbell,” he teases but his smile is bright and there’s no real bite to his words.

“You say that but I doubt you’d appreciate it if I rang the doorbell at 4AM,” Bucky points out.

“Probably not.”

A moment passes. Bucky bites at his lower lip, trying to get a grip on himself.

“I came to apologise again with hope we could start over?” he says.

Steve leans against the doorframe which brings him closer to Bucky. There’s a light blush on his pale cheeks. Bucky feels a bit weak in the knees.

“Maybe,” Steve shrugs with his left shoulder.

“OK, then,” Bucky nods. “Hi, I’m Bucky. It’s nice to meet you. I was wondering if you’d agree to go for a coffee with me? Or a dinner, if coffee isn't your thing?”

“I’m Steve. And I’m completely fine with either. It’s really nice to meet you in those completely normal circumstances, too.” Steve grins and Bucky can’t help but to mirror the gesture. “Now, should I get my jacket or was the invite just hypothetical?”

Bucky starts to shake his head before Steve even finishes the sentence, “It is very real, if you’re free right now.”

**Author's Note:**

> Title: Apartment 16  
> Creator(s): niallhoranbitches  
> Card number: 065  
> Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27296590  
> Square filled: C2 - Natasha Romanoff  
> Rating: Teen and Up  
> Archive warnings: None  
> Major tags: Meet Cute, No Powers AU, Pre-Serum Steve  
> Summary:  
> "Finally, he sees the longed-for number 16 on the door in front of him and bends to retrieve the key. Luckily, it's still there. Bucky thinks about the fact that in just a few minutes he'll finally be able to lay down, fall asleep and forget about the dull ache in all of his muscles for a few hours. It's a very nice thought. It makes him let out a small, happy sigh as he opens the door and sneaks into the dark apartment.
> 
> The light coming from the window in the living room is not much but enough for Bucky to realise that there's a dog. A big dog is standing in the middle of the hallway, its head cocked to the side as it watches Bucky. It's fair and huge, a golden retriever if Bucky was to guess.
> 
> It wouldn’t be weird if Bucky just ignored the fact that Natasha did not have a dog."  
> Word count: 5045


End file.
